Victoria Street North faces traffic overhaul

KITCHENER — Victoria Street North faces big traffic changes, triggered by safety concerns and by plans to launch construction on a new Highway 7 in 2015.

Among the anticipated impacts:

• The new 18-kilometre freeway between Kitchener and Guelph is expected to draw traffic off Victoria Street, currently Highway 7. This can be expected to ease congestion and collisions, but may also affect businesses on the street.

• The new freeway will connect to the Conestoga expressway from a high flyover descending into a tight space, requiring the closure of current expressway exits at Edna Street. This will complicate access into downtown Kitchener.

Planners say motorists from Guelph will have two choices. Exit the new Highway 7 east of the expressway to travel indirectly to the downtown on local roads. Or stay on the new freeway as it connects to the expressway and exit at Ottawa Street for “the most clear and direct route linking Guelph and downtown Kitchener.”

Expressway motorists coming from Waterloo will also face a more complicated route into downtown Kitchener, according to plans for the new Highway 7.

• While awaiting the new Highway 7, traffic planners propose installing a concrete median on Victoria between Edna and Bruce streets where the road spans the expressway. It’s a safety measure to prevent collisions.

Kitchener Mayor Carl Zehr figures Victoria Street will prosper after a new highway draws traffic away. He points to King Street East in south Kitchener, still vibrant after a Highway 8 bypass drew traffic away. “I think you’ll see the businesses along Victoria Street continue to flourish,” he said.

Zehr is concerned, pending more details, about highway motorists trying to reach the downtown from Ottawa Street. He worries this is inconvenient and might overload Ottawa Street. But he does not see it undermining city hall’s major spending campaign to revitalize the downtown.

“Does it negate the kind of investments we’re making? No, it does not,” he said. “It’s inconvenient, it’s not the best way, but it certainly doesn’t kill the activity here.”

While waiting for the new Highway 7, traffic planners want to put a concrete safety median on a 500-metre stretch of Victoria Street that’s among the most dangerous roads in the region. “It’s a reasonable measure to try and reduce the collisions,” Kitchener Coun. Dan Glenn-Graham said.

The section between Edna and Bruce streets saw 75 collisions that injured 15 people between 2007 and 2011. That’s more than double the collisions expected by the amount of traffic. A passenger was killed there in 2005.

“Something needs to be done,” said Pat Knechtel, general manager of K-W Surplus. But like other affected businesses, he worries that a safety median will complicate deliveries while preventing customers from turning left into the business.

“I really don’t like the idea. I’d rather leave it as is,” he said. “But at the same time, I realize there’s accidents happening, more than normal.”

Planners recommend allowing U-turns at Edna and Bruce streets for cars and small trucks after a median is installed. They say the narrow median could be removed at minor cost when the new Highway 7 draws traffic away, easing safety concerns.

A public meeting is planned Feb. 6 on the proposed Victoria Street median, estimated to cost $1.4 million. It’s at 6 p.m. in regional council chambers at 150 Frederick St., in Kitchener.